Boss Richard Styles welcomes league break as Whitstable Town host Stansfeld in Kent Senior Trophy tie

Richard Styles has welcomed a break from league action for Whitstable.

The Oystermen, one of the pre-season favourites for promotion from the Southern Counties East Premier Division, are already 15 points adrift of unbeaten frontrunners Erith & Belvedere.

Goals from Harry O’Donnell, Tom Mills and Matt Gething, along with Josh Oliver’s penalty, saw Whitstable win 4-2 last weekend at Glebe before they lost 2-1 at home to Hollands & Blair on Tuesday.

There’s Kent Senior Trophy action for Styles’ side this Saturday as they host Stansfeld.

“Sometimes, it’s nice to have that and, sometimes, it’s good to get away from the league,” said manager Styles.

“We have a cup competition game we can compete in now so we are looking forward to it.”

The Oystermen are due to face third-placed Stansfeld two weekends in a row, Whitstable visiting Foxbury Avenue in the league the following Saturday.

Styles said: “It might make the second game a little bit tighter.

“But we play differently at home and away anyway. When you play one team once, and then again straight after, it does sometimes make the second game tighter. We will see.”

Trailing at half-time, striker Gething struck his fifth goal of the season, only for the visitors to retake the lead as ex-Whitstable boss Scott Porter made a winning return.

Styles said: “It’s a really frustrating one because I hate losing football matches. Everyone does, I’m no different.

“Normally, you are in a bad mood but it’s very difficult to feel that way because we played well. We deserved so much better.

“I’ve slept on it and there’s no way we deserved to not win or draw that game. That’s probably the reason I’ve not been as upset as I should have been.

“The performance was better but you have to win